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Why Marketers are Moving Towards a Mobile-First Strategy

Mobile devices are responsible for major changes in how consumers buy, research and ultimately view a product being advertised across a wide range of industries. We are in the middle of a specific digital transformation, which is an exponential growth of consumer activity on mobile devices and an extreme increase in mobile advertising. Life seemingly revolves around smartphones, which is why mobile-friendly websites have become so important.

Mobile devices have become the preferred method of accessing digital media. ComScore found mobile devices account for more than 60% of all digital minutes. To put it in perspective, the time spent on desktops has decreased by 20% in the past year alone. The reality is that mobile advertising must be a priority for a company to avoid stagnation or even failure.

Every day, businesses are encouraged to focus on a mobile-first strategy to stay successful within their industry and here’s why.

Thank Mobile Devices for Half of the Paid Search Clicks

Mobile has become a key role in the consumer’s journey specifically when researching and creating brand awareness. Mobile devices have become a leader in the number of paid search clicks. Acquisio found that year-over-year, paid search clicks have increased by 45% on mobile phones. This means that desktop clicks have decreased by 16% and in contrast, nearly half (48%) of clicks are now happening on mobile devices.

Befriend Social Media

Companies who fail to utilize and maximize their social presence on Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms are subjecting themselves to a very small advertising box. When you compare the total U.S. ad spend in 2014 to 2018, the shift is very clear. An MDG study found that “brands are devoting 33 percent of ad spend to digital platforms—up from 25 percent in 2014 while television’s ad spend is decreasing this year.” Because mobile advertising is becoming the most popular and effective type of advertising, it takes engagement, shared content, and an appropriate strategy to be successful as a mobile ad platform.

Videos are the New Billboards

Video ads are the fastest-growing mobile category. Platforms like YouTube and Facebook are visible on mobile apps, emails, social sites and more. Mobile marketers can promote their ads on a pre-roll to capture the short attention span of the audience. This allows the user to watch the advertisement without making them feel pressured to purchase a product. Video advertising combines sound and motion to create connections between the buyer and the brand by evoking emotions. When it comes to social platforms, YouTube is on top. Forbes conducted a study and found that “73 percent of adults spend their screen time on the video-sharing site. Social networking giant Facebook ranks second, with 68 percent of consumers spending time on the platform.”Mobile users are viewing content more than ever, so logically they view more ads in the long run.

How can ON Advertising help?

There are many different ways to adhere to mobile-first advertising, which can be overwhelming and leave a little confused. Now is the time to work towards a mobile-first strategy. Not sure where to begin? We can help! ON has researched new and innovative ways to market, advertise and promote your business using a mobile-first strategy. Contact us to explore how mobile-first strategies can help your business grow.

Burger King’s #FeelYourWay Campaign

Advertisers are always under pressure to stand out amongst the crowd and out-perform every other ad to get noticed. With the increasing amount of platforms and opportunities for advertising, companies have to be creative when coming up with ad campaigns to grab consumers attention. Lately, the trend has been to highlight social problems in advertisements to show consumers that they care about these issues and to give a sense of connection to people.

A few months ago, we talked about the Nike campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick that grabbed attention from the world. Now, we want to focus on another campaign that was released by Burger King that has piqued the interest of users.

One of the latest ads that have sparked attention in the advertising industry is Burger King’s newest campaign called #FeelYourWay. The campaign directly takes a stab at McDonald’s and their ‘Happy Meal’ to bring awareness to mental health issues and stress about life. Watch it here:

In this ad, Burger King is using values-based advertising by trying to be real and down to earth to connect with the younger generation. They wanted to showcase stressors people deal with including, mental health, bullying, sexual harassment, and student debt. The idea of this was to bring awareness that not everyone is always happy and in the mood for a McDonald’s ‘Happy Meal,’ but that people have different emotions and feelings, and that’s okay. This campaign was directly targeting the Millennial and Generation Z consumers.

Studies have shown, people in the younger generations, prefer to spend their money on brands that they can emotionally connect with. This is why value-based advertising has become such a popular trend nowadays. It has been reported that 60% of millennials are more likely to buy items that speak to them and their personality. The reason Burger King, and many companies want to target the younger demographic is because of their buying power in the marketplace.

If you’re interested in spicing up your brands advertising to be relevant and trendy in today’s competitive world, contact us today. We research and stay up-to-date on the latest trends in the advertising industry, so you don’t have to. Learn more about the services we provide here.

2019 Digital Marketing Trends

Looking ahead to the 2019 year, new trends will be in place and companies need to stay up-to-date on the latest direction of the marketing industry to be competitive in their respective fields. In our agency, we are always on the watch for future trends and how we can incorporate them with our clients to give them the best results. Right now, some of the most important marketing trends for the future include:

Artificial Intelligence

We have talked about preparing your firm for AI marketing in a previous blog, and in 2019, this trend is only going to grow. AI will help companies do more in less time when it comes to learning the behaviors of consumers and giving a more personable experience for customers.

Personalization

There are many generic ads out there, consumers are becoming better at tuning them out. We are using more and more personalization in our agency to reach a specific audience and to have a better chance of capturing their attention. With the ability to track consumers’ behavior through heat maps, analytics, and tracking, we are able to determine what a specific consumer prefers and responds to the most. Companies are using AI to help with the personalization of ads.

Voice Search & Smart Speakers

Soon smart speakers like Alexa, Google Home, Siri and more will be producing advertisements. Companies will be under pressure to purchase ad space and produce audio ads to reach even more consumers through this channel.

These are only just a few trends we predict will be prominent in the 2019 year, we won’t fully know what will be favorable until further along. Contact us to find our what your business can be doing in the 2019 year.

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2018’s Hottest Advertising Trends

Can you believe 2018 is almost history? On the cusp of a new year, it’s an appropriate time to reflect on a few of the trends that shaped the advertising business these past twelve months.

The growth and influence of ephemeral content was the advertising story of the year. Ephemeral content is photos and videos that aren’t permanent; it disappears in a certain length of time, usually 24 hours. With Instagram creating a Story’s feature on their platform, users are now exposed to more relevant content. In 2018, consumers were looking to connect with brands that stood out from competitors. It’s easy to show off the personality of a brand using quick and playful content. Stories allow us to post time-sensitive content without over-saturating our audience. Check out a good example of ephemeral content by viewing the Stories on our Instagram page.

It seems that every year we talk about the growth of video content getting more attention than the written word. The majority of videos we shoot and produce are overview videos that help our clients provide consumers with a visual idea of who they are and what they do in about 60 seconds. Although we still produce many overview videos, in 2018 we began incorporating a new trend: blog videos. Ranging from about 30 seconds to two minutes, these videos adroitly combine blog sentences with engaging images and b-roll footage. We have learned that blog videos often achieve better engagement on social media and on websites.
See an example of a blog video we produced here.

The idea of popular bloggers and influencers isn’t new. However, in 2018 we saw a rise in micro-influencers, people who have semi-popular social media accounts promoting various products or services with a personal message. We have learned that micro-influencers have passionate fans who trust them because they think of them as friends giving advice. In fact, with some of our local clients whose target consumers are Arizonans, we’ve found micro-influencers who promote their product or service achieve positive results.
Here is an example of a micro-influencer who we have used for one of our clients.

Those are just a few of the advertising trends we have been adopting during the past year. If your company is not taking part in modern-day advertising that is aligned with these trends, don’t worry – we are here to help. At ON Advertising, we actively research and engage in the latest and greatest advertising techniques that have been proven to be effective. Don’t wait around: Contact us today if you want your business to thrive in 2019 and beyond.

Why Should You Engage in Facebook Live

Have you ever wondered if there is more you could be doing for your brand on Facebook? Are the photos and graphics you’re posting not getting the engagement you had hoped they would get? Have you ever thought about using Facebook Live? It’s an excellent tool for your company to help grab an audience’s attention and engage them in your brand on Facebook.

In fact, Facebook Live can provide viewers with unique content that cannot be easily shown in a photo or graphic. Much like your planned social media strategy, it is important you plan out exactly what you are wanting to feature and the dialogue, so you are always providing quality content. Not sure where to start? Read more below to get started!

Address Questions

There may be a blog out there that has your audience wanting to know more, or maybe you have been getting repeated questions from customers. Facebook Live is a great place to answer these questions because nowadays, consumers rarely read a long paragraph of text. Answering questions in a live event can be more intriguing for your audience and an easier way to address questions in depth.

Show an Inside Look

Many consumers only see what is on the outside of your business; they see what is publicly available but not inside the operations. Give them a behind the scenes look on some of the more exciting activities you have going on. Whether it’s the back kitchen, behind the scenes of a photo shoot, or a work outing, consumers will see a different side to your company. This can make them feel more connected to your business, giving them even more reason to stay engaged in you and what you are selling.

Promotion

Using Facebook Live is a great way to make viewers think they are getting an “exclusive” look into a new product or event. When companies showcase new products on Facebook Live, their audience may feel as though they are getting a unique advantage to the brand. It’s a cost-effective way to show a revealing of a product to more viewers.

Facebook Live can make people feel connected to your brand and can give your audience a different viewpoint on your company as a whole. Here at ON Advertising, we utilize Facebook Live for many of our clients, and we have seen positive results and received positive feedback. If you would like to learn more about how your business could be using Facebook Live to improve your brand and improve your social media strategy, give us a call!

Staying Ahead of Advertising Trends 101

Over time, advertising has changed drastically. With new technology being released continuously, ads have gone from traditional print to digital. Digital ads are evolving as well with more and more of them being seen on mobile devices Sta desktop platforms. This is because of the extended features mobile ads have to offer. With so many advertisements on smartphones and portable devices, consumers are becoming better at ignoring them. Of course, you want to make sure you are getting the most from your marketing budget by grabbing the customer’s attention and using these tips and tricks will help you do just that.

 

Video Advertising

Although video advertising may be more expensive, they can yield a high return on your money. Consumers prefer to watch videos as they are easy to share, grab the attention, and convey more information in a shorter amount of time. There are higher engagement rates when the video auto-plays to consumers online, people are immediately drawn to the movements and sounds coming from the screen.

 

Location Based Advertising

Having location-based advertising available is a very powerful tool for marketers to use. By knowing the area of the audience you want to reach locked down, ads can be sent to a phone through text or push notifications to people in the exact location you want. It’s a great and easy way to reach your target market.

 

Personalization

There are so many platforms for advertising that are constantly in people’s faces they have learned to tune out ads as much as possible. More and more companies are investing vasts amounts of their budgets to make their ads more personalized, thus giving them better results. Creating ads that are aligned with your consumers’ needs, preferences and demographics is more effective than making one general message.

Here at ON Advertising, we know how to reach consumers and how to make quality content that will engage your target audience. We keep up with the latest trends and tricks to keep you informed. We want you to have the highest return on your advertising investment to grow and thrive in the marketplace.

Tools Every Social Media Star Should Use

ON Advertising is an agency that offers a range of services, one of those being social media. From the curation of posts to the management of platforms, our Social Media Manager does it all; and for an array of clients. Managing social media accounts includes a lot of moving parts and having the ability to multi-task and switch projects at a moment’s notice. You may already feel stressed reading this job description and couldn’t imagine being able to do all of that on top of mentoring our newest team members but thankfully, Michelle, our social media queen can do it all. She found time to sit down with us and chat about her favorite tools that she uses to be the social media star that we are so grateful to have.

ON: So, what are your top favorite tools?

M: Well my top favorites would have to be Buffer, Planoly, Audiense, Trello, Grammarly, G Suite (Google Suite) and it sounds archaic but a simple composition book and pens in an array of colors. I love notebooks and pens.

ON: How do you utilize all of those tools?

M: Well, each tool serves a different purpose but I use all of them together to make my life easier and to keep true to my motto, work smarter not harder.

Buffer allows me to schedule social media posts, on multiple platforms (such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram) for multiple clients. It recognizes hashtags and accounts to tag, which is helpful when cross-promoting. My 2 favorite features of Buffer are; it auto posts to all of these platforms, so I can schedule the posts and move on to another client. Secondly, it keeps each of the clients together in one place, which makes it easy to access all accounts at once. Working in social media requires a high level of organization and Buffer really helps with that.

Planoly is a lot like Buffer but it is for scheduling, planning, and auto-posting only to Instagram. I exclusively use this site for ON’s Instagram. I take great pride in the agency’s social media, I need a tool that is dedicated to making our Instagram account the very best. I love the layout and organization of the site. The dashboard offers a whole month calendar view showing the days and times of scheduled posts, while on the other side shows your Instagram feed with posts that are scheduled and unscheduled. If you have a photo you want to use but not sure for what purpose or on what day, you can load it into Planoly until you want to post it. Because I schedule posts so far in advance, being able to see the images and the flow of the feed is super important to me and the ON brand.

Another huge important part of my job is checking and analyzing data. I need to know how the accounts are doing and where we can improve. Facebook’s analytics offer a lot of the details I want and need. Although Instagram and LinkedIn are not as helpful as they could be, they are not too far behind. Twitter is a platform where I feel the amount of data is lacking. That’s where Audiense comes into play. It analyzes our client’s Twitter accounts to see when their audiences are online, the best time to post, behaviors, as well as locations and interests of our demographics. I love the update emails they send. It helps me stay on top of the accounts and keep them in tip-top shape. Social media is always changing and Audiense helps me stay up to date.

Google Suite is a godsend, especially for me and my team. It’s the easiest way to share documents, ideas, photos and anything else we need to get the job done. We store all of our social media posting calendars where we can all access them and use what we need. And of course, I couldn’t live (a bit of an exaggeration but really) without my 5 (yes 5) Google Calendars. I love the option of having multiple calendars under one email, being able to see all the calendar events in one view and being able to color coordinate makes my little OCD heart sing. If I didn’t have G-Suites… well, I don’t want to even imagine my job (and life) without it!

Trello has become a huge part of my working life and now I can’t imagine my day without it. The agency as a whole uses Trello and many of us use it separately. It’s a great help to see what each of us is doing that day and helps gauge the level of businesses one might be. It also is a great way to keep track of tasks that are completed or are still needing to be done. I love that I can check it and see what my team has accomplished and if they can handle more projects or need time to complete their current tasks. Any tool that helps with productivity and organization in a flawless system is aces in my book. Bonus, you can color code tasks!

This one is probably obvious, but Grammarly, of course. I do not dare post a single thing whether it’s a Facebook post or blog post without checking it in Grammarly. Of course, working in this industry you need extremely strong writing skills, Grammarly takes those skills a step up and really acts as a great quality checker. My colleagues and I always check each other’s work, but, Grammarly is always my first stop.

And lastly, a good ol’ composition book and colorful pens. I’m a bit of an old fashion worker when it comes to listing out my tasks for the day. Yes, of course, Trello basically acts as a giant to-do list, but, I love my morning ritual of sitting down at my desk before opening my email, with a fresh cup of coffee and looking at what needs to be done for that day. I list out what tasks I know need to be done, notes about each task and the due date. Then as each task gets completed, I find the pen color of that week and I put a big check mark in the box, making it complete. It’s a ritual and habit I’ve developed since high school when I first discovered the wonder of agendas. It hasn’t left me since and honestly, probably never will.

ON: For those aspiring social media stars what top 3 tools do you suggest?

M: Buffer most definitely, Trello and Grammarly. Buffer will get you started in scheduling posts and they offer a simple analytics tool to get your feet wet in learning what the data means and how to use it. Trello will help you stay organized and keep track of your tasks. It’s basically like a virtual giant cork board with post-it notes pinned to it and the app is awesome for those always on the go *raises hand*. Lastly, Grammarly. They offer free and premium versions; the free version is perfect for those just starting out. The Google Chrome extension is wonderful because it will tell you right then and there what should be changed in whatever format/platform or site you are working in. My preference is using the actual site, then transferring it to wherever, but having options is always a great thing.

There are thousands of tools out there that do the same things as the ones I listed above. The biggest part of rocking the social media world is to find the ones that work the best for you, your clients and your workflow. I can’t begin to even count how many tools I’ve tested before I settled on this magic combination. Find what works best for you and make it happen!

Trends Affecting the Restaurant Industry

New developments in technology have been impacting consumer preferences and attitudes toward the restaurant industry. These changes have left consumers wanting faster and more convenient ways to purchase food from restaurants. Companies like UberEats and GrubHub have capitalized on these emerging trends. The millennial generation is also known for being more mobile than previous generations, meaning they are constantly busy and have an “on the go” mindset. Millennials are also willing to spend more on experiences rather than services and products, with 72% of millennial spending going towards experiential based activities. The restaurant industry will need to be making some dramatic changes in order to appeal to these new trends. Some ideas we have are:

Online and Mobile Ordering
Consumers are spending more time on their phones now than ever before. Smartphones and other smart devices make it easy for consumers to place orders on their mobile devices. Having a mobile-friendly ordering platform will ensure that consumers can conveniently order food from your restaurant.

Mobile Payment Options
Continuing with the habit of increased mobile device usage, mobile payment options are starting to slowly replace traditional cash or credit cards. Platforms like ApplePay and PayPal can encrypt consumers’ payment data so all they have to do is scan a barcode on their phone. Having a POS system that supports this method of payment can speed up line waits as well as ensure that your restaurant caters to the needs of every consumer.

Personalized Experiences
One of the most influential factors that consumers now look for when choosing a restaurant is an establishment that can offer them personal experiences. Consumers are looking for experiences that document and share with their friends on social media. Restaurants can capitalize on this by offering specialized dishes, extra service features, and branded hashtags.

These adaptations may sound overwhelming at first, however, adopting these tactics will allow your restaurant to become differentiated amongst the growing restaurant industry. At ON Advertising, we understand how sociocultural trends are affecting our restaurant clients. Don’t hesitate to reach out to learn more about how we can help your restaurant thrive!

 

ON Topic: Facebook’s Algorithm Update

Facebook just announced their newest change to their newsfeed algorithm. Facebook’s goal with this change is to offer users more of an opportunity for meaningful engagement on quality posts with the companies and brands. Since the 2016 election, Facebook has been trying to increase support in providing authentic content since they have been criticized for the amount of misinformation and clickbait that was reaching consumers.

 

“And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard — it should encourage meaningful interactions between people.” – Mark Zuckerberg.

 

Many media outlets and publishers should be worried about this newest update. Not us. Posting content that does not align with the three major goals set out by Facebook will not succeed within this new algorithm. Posting unrelatable content, spamming timelines, and information spawning from an non credible source will be the ones most affected. With these changes, our clients’ Facebook strategies actually benefit since ON Advertising strategies align with how Facebook wants companies to post content. With that being said, there are actions brands can take to advantage of these changes:

 

  • Original engaging content – Relatable pics and posts that stoke conversation.
  • Video – Get creative with your audience, produce short snackable videos, and get in the livestream game.
  • Events – People love to share what they are doing and entice others to join.
  • Influencers & Groups – Social media influencers align with the first three strategies, so they will also be another tool to use.

 

While the initial announcement of Facebook adjusting their algorithm may seem intimidating, ON Advertising has been using these strategies before Facebook’s algorithmic transition. In fact, we will be able to utilize this update to perform beyond our client expectations. ON Advertising will be better equipped to share your business’s story and support your strategic goals.

 

“Good social media in every platform is about connecting the stories and people that matter most to you. So, create stories that matter to your people.”  – Irasema Jeffers, Chief Digital Officer at ON Advertising.

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